The Person We Could Never Have
by poppinmushroom
Summary: A story where Sakura will be the one who will leave Konoha, for some reason. Then our boys will then discover their true feelings for her. Who will be the one to take over her heart as she returns? Or will she already be taken by someone else?
1. Forbidden Technique

**Status: ****Edited September 2011**

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**Summary: **A story where Sakura will be the one who will leave Konoha, for some reason. Then our boys will then discover their true feelings for her. Who will be the one to take over her heart as she returns? Or will she already be taken by someone else?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Narut****o.**

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**T****he Person We Could Never Hav****e**

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**Chapter 1: A Forbidden Technique**

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All the battles had ended. Still, there were a few things that had not yet been cleared. Many had sacrificed their lives to protect their country, especially in Konoha. Akatsuki and Orochimaru's group had already been history in the ninja world.

Two weeks after the battle, everyone was still recovering from their were still not accepting the truth, that they had lost the people they loved. Some were already not in their right mental state. Some were still regretful for not having been of use, and some were still trying to survive their critical conditions.

For those who had recovered, and for some who only had some minor injuries, they helped to rebuild the run-down village. They all worked hand-in-hand to finish fixing things early. Konoha had such a wonderful sight, everyone working so hard, and all supporting one another.

Konoha also had announced their two heroes. The two who gave the last blow to end the war. Those two were Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. Still, they were in critical condition, especially Naruto.

Tsunade, who had applied all her medical knowledge, still didn't have the cure, or know how to help Naruto in his condition. Sakura, who worked so hard at finding a solution, still locked herself in the Nara house, where some useful medical books were found.

All medical ninjas were searching for a cure for Naruto's condition. Even the medical ninjas from the country of Sand.

On the 15th day after the war, a thunderstorm had entered Konoha.

**In Tsunade's ****O****ffic****e**

'TUG.'A large pile of papers were slammed on Tsunade's table, and then thunder boomed.

"Tsunade-sama, you still have some paper work! If you don't finish this, it will soon fill this entire room!" Shizune burst out in anger. Thunder boomed.

"Shizune," Tsunade gave a low-pitch growl. Thunder boomed.

"H-h-hai?"she said nervously.

"Is it time already?" Tsunade faced outside.

"For what?" she asked.

"It's been three years already, hasn't it?" Tsunade said.

Shizune thought deep about what Tsunade had said. She remembered something…

"It's still early, isn't it?" she asked.

"Iie," Tsunade answered.

**Knock. Knock.**

There was a knock on the door of Tsunade's office.

"Come in," Tsunade replied.

The door opened, and a girl with pink hair and emerald eyes appeared.

She came inside, and then closed the door and leaned on it, facing downwards, quite gloomy.

"Sakura…" Shizune said worriedly to Sakura.

Sakura went near to Tsunade's desk, and handed a piece of paper, along with her forehead protector.

"Are you sure about this?" Tsunade asked as she received it.

"Gomen ne, but I have already decided," she said, as she bit her lips.

Tsunade stood up, and walked closer to Sakura, then hugged her.

Tears fell from Sakura's face as she hugged back.

"I know you thought a lot about your decision, and I'm glad that you were able to make a choice, and I really respect it," Tsunade said as she comforted Sakura.

Shizune left the room with Tonton, the pig, to give the two some privacy.

Tsunade pushed Sakura back a little.

"Here, I won't accept this," Tsunade handed over the forehead protector.

"Demo…" Sakura replied as she received it back.

"You will always be welcome here," Tsunade said.

"Iie," she declined.

"Sakura…" Tsunade said in a low pitch.

"You guys always protected me. I've never repaid you guys for anything. I'm useless, and always will be," she stated.

Tsunade slapped Sakura on her cheek. "Sakura, what are you saying?" Tsunade gave a confused look, tinged with sadness. "You've done so many things. You were always there to help and support us. You're not as useless as you think."

"Gomennasai, I didn't mean that. I don't know. The truth is, I'm still confused. Everything happened so fast," she blurted out, while holding her super-red cheek.

"Don't worry," Tsunade said, "I've already been in that stage, so I understand."

"Tsunade-sama…" she said, as she looked at her master.

"Go now. You must go do what you need to do," Tsunade ordered.

"Hai," she said, teary-eyed.

Sakura left Tsunade alone in the room feeling guilty.

**Tsunade's POV**

_"Who am I?"_

_"Shouldn't I be the one to be pulling her back for them__?__"_

_"I'm her mentor__.W__hy didn't I just order her to stay__?__"_

_"__B__aka."_

_"__A__argh…"_

Tsunade slammed her hand on the table was split into two. Still she blamed herself for letting go of her student.

**End of POV**

As Sakura closed the door, tears fell from her eyes.

Shizune, who was at the corner, moved next to Sakura, and handed her a hand kerchief. "Use this, and wipe your face."

"Arigato" she said, as she took the handkerchief from Shizune.

"Sakura, if you change your mind, or you may have some time, maybe you can come and visit us, okay?"

Then Sakura walked away as she waved her hand in approval.

Then Shizune lightened up a bit, as she saw Sakura, whono longer had a gloomy aura, vanishing from her sight.

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At the wardroom, where our heroes were recovering…

The door opened. The room had no visitors. Then, Sakura came inside. She looked around, just to see that there were no more people there, just her with Sasuke and Naruto.

After she was able to claim that there were no more people, she then moved to sit beside Sasuke's bed. She remembered the days when she would always be pushed back by him, the times that he would protect her from harm, and the days when he was finally showed who he really was.

She sat at Sasuke's bed, and made some hand seals, then placed her forehead to Sasuke's. She stayed there for quite some time.

**Sakura's POV**

_"I hope this __will__ help__.__"_

_"As soon as you wake up__,__ I hope you __will__ change your __views.__"_

_"Thanks for being someone I looked __up to.__"_

_"And I hope I was able to do my task here right__.__"_

She then gave a faint smile as she was thinking about this.

**End of POV**

She groomed Sasuke's hair, before she left and went to where Naruto was.

As shereached near where Naruto was lying, she stood there for a while and stared at him. She lowered her head.

**Sakura's POV**

_"I hope I'm doing the right thing__.__"_

_"I never tried to understand you__.__"_

_"I hope all the times we've been together are the best __times __of your __life.__" _Then tears started falling from her eyes.

_"I hope soon__,__ after __this, you will__ move forward__.__"_

_"I'm sorry__.__"_

_"I hope the __gods__ and __goddesses will__ be able to give you the right person for you__.__"_

Tears fell from her never felt any regret about what she was about to do.

**End of POV**

She then sat at Naruto's held his hands, and put them on her chest. She whispered something to him then for a little while, seals coming from Sakura's body, transferred to Naruto's hands to his body. After that, she gave Naruto a kiss on the lips. Tears fell on his face.

A white light flashed through the whole wardroom.

_**To be continued…**_

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Hope you guys like the first chapter! **Please review****!**


	2. Our Little Locket

**Status: ****Edited September 2011**

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**T****he Person We Could Never Hav****e**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Narut****o.**

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**Chapter 2: Our Little Locket**

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As the white light slowly vanished, Naruto's condition was no longer in as bad a stateas before. He was close to stable.

Sakura then released her lips from Naruto's as she stood up. She slowly walked to the door helplessly, as if she gave all of her energy to Naruto. She took a rest as she leaned on the door. She faced where the two were lying. She gave her last glance at them.

Then she whispered to them, "Sayonara." Tears then trickled down her cheeks.

After a while, she decided to leave as soon as possible. She opened the door, and no longer looked back at her teammates as she left the wardroom. Then, she paused for a while to have a little rest. Her knees were moment now, she might collapse.

After a little while, three shadows appeared to her left side. Footsteps were silently heard. She was about to walk away, and suddenly, she couldn't move forward. She eventually thought of Shikamaru, who could have used his shadow technique on her. But sadly, it wasn't him. It was just her. She really didn't want to be separated from them. She didn't want to leave. She wanted to always be there beside them, to be able to laugh with them, to be able to explore new things, and to be able to protect them.

As the three shadows got closer,she eventually recognized them. A silver, spiky-haired guy, a brown haired man, and the black haired boy who had replaced Sasuke for a while, appeared on her far-left side.

She walked a little farther away, away from the door, and away from them.

She couldn't face them. She didn't want them to seeher sulking face.

"Sakura…" Kakashi called after her in a low-pitched voice.

"What was that strange light that came from the wardroom?" Yamato asked her.

She gave no response.

Silence fell upon their little conversation.

Sai, who was just watching,suddenly felt a pain in his heart. He didn't know why his heart ached like that. As he kept looking at Sakura, who no longer planned to look back at them, he felt more pain in his heart. Never did he feel that way before, even when he was sent into ROOTS.

**Sai's POV**

_"What is this? Why am I feeling this kind of pain?"_

_"This feeling is killing me."_

_"Do I have a heart disease?"_

_"So__,__ what is this?"_

He asked himself more questions, as he felt the pain go much deeper.

Suddenly, the word…

_"Is this what they __call__ L-O-V-E?"_

_"Truly, __considering__ girls, Sakura is quite an __exception__. I really liked it when I was able to tease her, when she would lend her shoulders to lean on, when she __appreciated__ my new __artwork__, whenever she __listened__ to my thoughts__,__ an__ds__ometimes__,__ when she reacts __after__ she misunderstands the way I act because of what that stupid book tells me (The Basic Steps to Interact __w__ith Others)."_

_"__Is the f__eeling of being in lov__e q__uite happy? Hurtful? Or what?"_

_"I have a feeling she'll go away. I will no longer be able to talk to her, see her, tease her, listen to her complaints__,__ and to be able to comfort her." _

Sai, thinking of different kinds of thing at the same time, made him more confused about what he truly felt toward Sakura.

**End of POV**

"Sakura…" Sai called her.

Still, there was no response that was given.

When Sai could no longer wait for her response, he was about to walk to her.

Suddenly, Sakura faced them. Her hair covered her eyes. No one could tell what kind of emotions that she felt in that moment. She then bowed to them. Sai stopped.

Kakashi, Yamato, and Sai were surprised when Sakura suddenly bowed to them without any reason.

She then said, as she was still bowing, "May you take care of them for me."

The three was quite confused about what she meant, especially Sai, who was already confirming the possibility that Sakura was going away.

Then Sakura stood up her hair was covering her eyes from the three. Then suddenly, a tear of blood trickled down from her eyes to her pale cheeks, making a markon her face.

"Sakura," Kakashi said worriedly, as he saw the tear-blood of Sakura's.

Then, all of a sudden, Sai ran towards her.

Sakura gave a faint smile at him.

When Sai was about to grab her, she suddenly vanished and became Sakura petals. Sai grabbed some of the petals, and fell down to his knees.

Then Yamato, who was quite curious about what might have happened inside with Sakura and the two, burst inside the wardroom.

He then looked around, and didn't see anything that was only thing that passed through his mind was that Naruto was no longer quite grasping for his life, and that Sasuke looked pretty well.

Kakashi too then followed Yamato.

"Yamato," Kakashi called his attention.

"What happened here?" Yamato said.

"It looks like she did something to make this two in better conditions than before," Kakashi said as he observed the room.

"Did she…" Yamato said, as he was able to think of few things that might have happened in the room.

Sai, who suddenly fell to the floor, looked at his hands. He felt the Sakura petals had formed into something. When he opened his hands, the petals had formed into a mini Sakura-shaped locket. Then, suddenly, the locket had an engraving on it."Team 7." Sai opened the locket, and saw the pictures of them, the members of team 7, with their previous and new members. After looking at it, he closed the locket, and saw his name on the back."SAI."

Then, all of the Sakura petals suddenly disappeared into thin air.

Sai couldn't face the fact that Sakura had left, so he rushed to out find her. He left the hospital, and searched for her throughout the entire village.

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**Inside the ****wardroom****…**

"Yamato, you stay here," Kakashi ordered him. "I'm going to see Tsunade-sama." Then he went through the window and vanished.

Yamato, who was left behind, was still curious about what might have happened if his theory was incorrect. Then suddenly, he just remembered Sai. Herushed outside the room and checked, but Sai was no longer there to be found.

**Yamato's POV**

_"Sakura… What was the meaning of what you said?"_

_"Why didn't you wait for them to wake up__?__"_

_"Have you done something?"_

_"Have you performed a forbidden technique?"_

_"What might have caused you __to be __in that condition?"_

Yamato, who was still asking himself a lot of questions, sat in the corner and watched over the two inside the wardroom.

**End of POV**

Sai finally stopped at Sakura's home, and gazed at her room. He looked tired and , he has no plans on stopping until he found her.

_**TO BE CONTINUE**__**D…**_

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**Please REVIEW!xD**


	3. Reasons

**Status: ****Edited September 2011**

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**T****he Person We Could Never Hav****e**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Narut****o.**

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**Chapter 3: Reasons**

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_Sakura__,__ where are you? _Sai thought, as he still gazed at her window. _Sakura..._

Three human shadows and one beast suddenly appeared at the right-sidecorner of the road.

"Is that you, Sai?" someone shouted.

Sai nodded as Shino, Kiba, and Hinata were in his sight.

"Are you stalking Sakura?" Kiba blurted out.

Sai gave no response, as he held the locket tighter in his hand.

"Sai?" Hinata called for Sai's attention.

"Sakura... She's acting incredibly weird. Do you know something?" Sai asked the three.

"What do you mean?" Shino asked.

"She escaped from us. There was a gush of light coming from Sasuke and Naruto's room, so we hurriedly went there, and then she was there, leaning at the door silently." Sai paused, gaining his composition as he was about to break down. "Then she moved back, as if she was trying to avoid us. Then she suddenly asked us to take care of Naruto and Sasuke. Then, she..." Sai paused again, as he tightened his grip on the locket, "she was gone."

"Sakura..." Hinata said, breaking the silence.

"Let's try and find things 'll help in her search," Shino said.

"She may still be in the boundaries of Konoha" Sai informed them, unsure.

Hinata then went to the rooftop, and looked for Sakura using her Byakugan, while Shino sent out his bugs to swarm all over Konoha, and Akamaru and Kiba sniffed for some clues. Then Sai drew rats, and made them alive to look for Sakura.

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**KAKASHI'****S**** SIDE**

Kakashi finally reached the Hokage's office. He was about to knock on the door, when...

"Come in," Tsunade called.

Kakashi went inside, and looked around the room. Tsunade sat at her desk, looking at her vast window, while Shizune stood up at the end of the window.

"Tsunade-_sama..." _Kakashi called her.

"What brings you here, Kakashi?"Tsunade asked, still staring out the window.

"Sakura... She..." Kakashi said.

"Sakura? I just gave her a mission," Tsunade said.

Kakashi was not convinced by what Tsunade had just told him. He gazed at Shizune, who looked depressed.

"Tsunade-_sama__,_" Kakashi called again.

"Would this question be Sakura again?"

"No...Could you tell me what that flash of light was that came from Sasuke and Naruto's ward?" he asked.

"I don't know."

"Isn't their ward off-limits? You, Shizune, and Sakura are the only exemptions. Is Sakura's mission related to that light?"

"Kakashi," Tsunade then faced him, "there are things that should be left unsaid, and this case is something like that."

"I'm the one responsible for Sakura. I'm their team leader."

"True, you are their leader, but I'm in the highest position to you all."

Kakashi no longer wanted to argue, so he decided to leave the room, still curious about what Tsunade and Shizune were hiding.

"Kakashi," Tsunade called him back as he was about to close the door.

Kakashi obeyed her orders, and came inside again.

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**YAMATO'****S**** SIDE**

Yamato stood still in between Naruto and Sasuke's beds.

_W__hat the hell is happening?__ W__hat was that light?_

Still, Yamato thought of more questions about what might have happened.

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**SAI'****S**** SIDE**

_Sakura, please__ appear __infront__ of me as you always __do. I__ can't stand the pain burning in my chest__. P__lease__,__ come __back. You__ are one of the __reasons__ why I didn't go back to __ROOTS. You're__ one of the reasons why I fight back at Master__.You're__ one of the few people who __understood__ me first__. You're__ my reason that I'm..._

"Sai," Shino called, as he noticed that Sai was on another planet.

Sai just looked at him in response.

"Tell me, was it just today that she acted weird like this?"

"I don't know," Sai said stressfully, as his hand shook.

"What's in your hand?" Shino asked.

"A little piece that she left before she disappeared infront of us, a locket."

"I see..."

Then Hinata came down, and Kiba and Akamaru came back too.

"Did you find something?" Shino asked.

"We can't trace her. It's as if she was never here," Kiba said.

"What do you mean?"Sai asked anxiously.

"There's no scent, nothing, as if she never existed. All the place that we used to hang out, her scent was nowhere."

All were thrown into silence.

"You Shino?"Kiba asked, as he noticed that, bits by bits, Shino's bugs were coming back to him.

"Just like you, there is nothing, no traces of her."

"Same here," Hinata suddenly said.

_N__owhere to be found...__A__s __if she __never existed...__N__o traces of her__, not__ even __a__ single __strand of __hai__r..._Sai thought, as he clutched the locket more. "Thank you."

"Sai, what about your pets?"Kiba asked.

"Same results as the three of you."

"There is something that intrigues me," Hinata said.

"What is it?" Kiba asked.

"There is someone with unfamiliar chakra that is almost at the gate. I don't know who it was..."Hinata said.

Sai gave a confused look.

"I mean, I know that I can distinguish someone by looking at the way their chakra flows, but whoever that person is, it's a mystery."

"So, what you mean is that, everyone has their own way how their chakra flows through their body?"Sai asked.

"Yes, and the normal color of a chakra would be blue, but that person, whom I think doesn't even possess a tailed-beast, has a different kind of 's somewhat purer than white," she explained.

"Could that be..."Sai trailed off.

"It can't be. I'm always used to how Sakura's chakra flows. I always examine her when she is using her medical jutsu."

"It's a worth a try," Sai insisted.

Then all four agreed, including Akamaru, to check out who it was.

_Sakur__a. _Sai repeated her name over and over and over.

_**To Be Continued...**_

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**R****eview please!**


	4. Eternal

**Status: Edited September 2011**

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**"The Person We Could Never Have'**

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**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

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**Chapter 4: Eternal**

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Konoha was in darkness. Lightning flashed as it fought to light the village. Everyone was too busy to take shelter and prepare for the upcoming storm heading towards their direction, unlike the three shinobi (namely Sai, Shino, and Kiba), and one kunoichi (Hinata), and one beast (Akamaru), who were on a run tothe village's main gate.

All of them dashed their way on top of the building roofs of the village,unable to detect that they were already being followed by another set of shinobi and kunoichi. There were five figures at their backs, trailing them, and another who was on the street, making its pace near them, trying to zigzag just to avoid the scattered people.

"Hey!" was shouted by the one trailing them on the street, who finally caught up to their pace without losing any stamina. "What kind of youthful marathons are you doing, in this broad darkness?" asked by the bowl-cut, centipede brows in a green jumpsuit.

In no offense, no one dared answer him back, since the four's attention was occupied with their target, the mysterious person at the other end of the village's main gate. In only a matter of seconds, one of the shinobi who was following on the roof, which was Neji, understood where the four were running towards hurriedly.

"Lee, run first to the village's main gate!" he ordered Lee.

Lee didn't much understand why Neji asked him to do that, and so he gave him a curious look. Before he dashed to the target point, "Try and look for Sakura!" Sai added. Lee became more confused, since Sakura was involved in the matter. The love of his life had something to do with how Sai's face cracked openly with emotions, he who wore one mask, and that was his fake smile. Lee then dashed towards the destination, hoping that nothing may have happened to his dear Sakura. "Here I come, my beloved Sakura-san!" he dashed in a speed of light, leaving a big gust of wind trailing him as he went.

The people who were trailing the four, excluding Neji and Lee, were Tenten, Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji. The other five who were trailing them shared a confused look as they also heard that Sakura was involved in the matter.

The blonde chick, Ino, then tried to interrogate anyone who could also try and clarify to them what was going on. "Hey guys, what's going on?" she asked, concerned that her love rival might have had something bad happen to her. Although, she knew deep inside her what the real reason was for her concerns regarding Sakura. She was the best friend ever, someone everyone opened up to. 'If it's Sakura, it only meant that it was her time,' she deeply thought.

"Sai told us that Sakura was acting strange as she left Naruto and Sasuke's ward. She also happened to be in not-so-good-condition, and lastly, any traces of her just suddenly disappeared. I wasn't able to sniff her scent, same as Akamaru, while Shino's chakra bugs weren't able to detect even a small speck, and Hinata's Byakugan didn't let her see anything that was Sakura's," Kiba informed them. "When did you guys start trailing us, huh?" he then asked the question.

"Team Gai and Team Asuma were teamed up on a just came back, and then we saw the four of you running hurriedly, so we unconsciously followed you then," Tenten answered.

"What do you mean, her traces just suddenly disappeared?" asked Shikamaru, who couldn't even guess away that could happen. There was no way that anyone could just actually disappear into thin air like nothing had happened. Especially if it was Team 8, that specialized in both tracking and locating the smallest things that probably existed in this world, were looking.

**Shikamaru's POV**

'_Does__ not exist? What the heck am I thinking__? H__ow can she possibly vanish like she didn't exist at all__?__'_

'_I do think I messed up a lot of things, since I don't take my time to think and act on it__.__'_

'_Shit! Shit! Shit! This __is__ pissing me off! She __will__ always be there! She __exists__! Dammit' _He gave a small groan.

**End of Shikamaru's POV**

Neji was also curious about what they meant, and so he also released his Byakugan in search for Sakura's presence that might still linger in the village. He saw nothing, not even a speck of chakra that could lead him to her. He may not be close to her, like the others, but he felt a precious bond with her, and seemingly, he too didn't understand much of it.

'_What the heck__?__! _'Neji was totally pissed as he thought.

No one was able to answer Shikamaru's question. All of them were dead-silent, since none of them could also think of an answer. Only maybe Ino had lingering feelings that she did know something, but she kept her mouth shut.

**Ino's POV**

'_What the hell are you thinking__,__ Sakura__?__!'_ she thought angrily, and also pitied herself because of how useless of a best friend she was.

She tried to remember when Sakura lastopened up to her about something. The truth was that it was at that time when Ino really acknowledged that Sakura was a great friend of hers, for she knew that Sakura wouldn't just tell her secrets to anyone whom she didn't trust.

'_I'm__ supposed to be your best friend__.H__ere I am, clueless __about__ what is happening to you! You should just tell and confide __in__ me__. I wouldn't__ mind__.__'_

'_Aargh, __I am __so damn pissed __at__ myself__, __'_Ino groaned, with her lack of self-awareness.

'_You know, at least you could just give me some time__,__' _she thought, as she tried to calm herself.

**End of Ino's POV**

All nine ninjas, and one beast, were getting nearer to the sight of the village's main gate, as they jumped and leaped to the next roof and the next, and as they left the district, they went on either the streets with no people, or either leapt into the trees from branches to branches.

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**YAMATO'****S**** SIDE**

Naruto and Sasuke, who was still unconscious,had finally reached a stable condition. Both of them were finally breathing in a normal manner, not harsh or slow, only normal and in a proper rhythm. The two of them were completely unaware of anything that happened from the moments Sakura entered and exited their room, which caused them in such good conditions.

Yamato just sat in between the front of the two beds, thinking of what may have happened. He was able to formulate hundreds of possibilities for what had occurred in the room, but only one thing that he could come up with, and that was-Something did happen between Sakura and the two unconscious boys, and that mightlead them to break then, this time, it won't be Sasuke who will crush the bong that Team 7 made, or Naruto would be leaving again to train, but this time, it would be Sakura who would leave, without anything that could bring her back anymore.

**Yamato's POV**

'_Of all times the times, why did she __choose__ this time__,__ when she knows that her precious __teammates__ are all bed-ridden__.__'_He then gave a large sigh.

'_A__ll__ I know is that__,__ after you left this room, you also left your heart, you only took your body along with you__.__'_

Yamato groaned in anger. It made him remember the time when one ANBU had also left their team.

'_Why do both of them always choose the wrong time__?__'_

_'W__hy__ do the people who I now finally __accept in__ my life __do this?__ The__y j__ust suddenly go__.__'_

**End of Yamato's POV**

All Yamato could do in this point was just to check up on the two, unconscious heroes, while he was on the verge of trying to pull all his hair out of his head in his grief.

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**SAI'****S**** SIDE**

"Hey!" Kiba then asked, drawing everyone's attention, especially those at the back, Neji, Tenten, Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji. "There's another we don't have any leads to Sakura, we found something weird or interesting. Maybe you've noticed it, Neji?"

Neji was a little bit surprised that Kiba had given him any attention, with the people he was with. "Just that I saw two people beyond the main gate who have a rare type of chakra, more like the same with the jinchūriki. Unlike Naruto's red chakra, theirs are white ones," Neji informed.

Overhearing the new development, "What? Did you say two?" Shino asked.

"Yes, there were two," Neji answered straightly.

"A moment ago, it was just one," Hinata interrupted.

All were tense about what or who they would meet beyond those gates.

"Hope that Lee won't do anything stupid," Tenten just suddenly blurted out.

All of then dashed inaneven faster pace, trying to catch up with Lee, although everyone knew Lee would already have arrived at their destination five minutes ago.

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**LEE'****S**** SIDE**

As he had reached the target destination, he wandered his eyes all over the place, trying to look for his beloved. Since he wasn't able to get a glimpse, he tried snooping around. Even though he knew he wasn't from the Inuzuka clan, he tried to sniff around his way to look for Sakura. The coming ninjas who either entered or exited thought that Lee was like a pervert. Lee then became self-conscious, but it didn't stop him from looking for some clues. He also did know the fact that he wasn't from the Hyuuga clan, but he tried to beam through things, as if glaring them to , he wasn't able to see any clues.

Lee didn'teven have a single clue what this reason was to be sent here in the first place. All he knew was that it was something so dreadful that Sai's mask of emotionlessness had fallen away. It didn't sway made him more motivated and pumped up as he went looking for Sakura aimlessly in the area.

Lee felt a little shudder as he felt that there was someone who might be looking at those looks of bewilderment from his village, but rather, from outside. He knew that stepping out of the gate would be a big problem, especially being a shinobi without any permission from the Hokage. Stepping out meant he would be considered as a missing-nin, and that had a big punishment along with it.

**Lee's POV**

'_Could it possibly __be __Sakura-__san__ who __is__ outside? Staring at me?' _As he thought dreamingly that Sakura was drooling over him.

'_I know__. I__f I put my feet just a little bit on the border line, I know I would get punished, but still…'_Doubt overflowed in him.

'_Still, I believe in the power of __youth__!' _he thought, his eyes burning with youthful passion._'I must go beyond__,__ and look for my Sakura-__san__!'_

**End of Lee's POV**

As Lee was about to step forward and go straight ahead, two hands clasped down on his shoulders, Tenten and Neji.

Tenten gave a big sigh. "Glad we caught you in time, before you did anything stupid, blockhead," she said, as she smacked Lee straight on the head.

Sai looked around aimlessly beyond the gate. It was not only Sai, but every one of them. Both Hinata and Neji used their Byakugan to look more closely in the depths of the forest beyond the gate. They saw the two figures. One of them was big and bulky, a man, they thought, whom they hadn't seen before, and the other was quite petite in size,a woman, whom they were familiar with. They knew that figure, and that figure was coming nearer. The bushes rustled as she passed through them. She was standing there just infront of the gate.

All saw them were trying to approach her, but they couldn't. They knew that it was impossible for Shikamaru to hold them against their feet from the ground. They knew nothing about why they couldn't move. She hadn't made any hand seals,nor did the other man she was with.

Sai desperately tried to come near her, but he couldn't. He couldn't budge an inch. He was there, stuck.

Lighting flashed. Sakura's face was clearly seen. It was her, they thought. Her body and appearance were right, but something was off. It wasn't the same Sakura whom they used to know. It was a different Sakura. She just stayed there, watching them, and they did too at her. Time had likely stopped to them. Doubts may have come…

"Sakura!" Ino shouted, trying to get her best friend's attention. "What the hell are you doing there? You promised me something! Why aren't you doing it?" she shouted desperately.

Something drew across Sakura's face that none of them could understand. It was a mix of pain and anger.

"I'm sorry, Ino, but TIME is up…" Sakura answered in a low manner. Her knees buckled, making her fall on the ground, kneeling in her position. The man behind her was there to try and help her to stand up, but she didn't. Sakura continued kneeling. "I'm so, so sorry," she cried.

Sakura felt a sharp pain in her heart, knowing that itwas breaking her, but it was TIME for her to go. She needed to give them a proper goodbye, and so she did. She gave a most formal bow while she was kneeling. The others weren't able to react, or reach for her. At that same moment, they saw the man with her making seals – transportation seals, and went forward to touch her. "Sayonara, and Arigatou gozaimasu" she said in her cracked voice, as the man reached for her.

A moment later, when Sai was able to get free from the hold, he ran past the gate to get her, to hold her, and to bring her back to his side. Sudden hands grabbed him, and threw him away to the opposite side of the gate. No one noticed that the gate was closing, the last thing they saw was that the moment the gate was about to shut, the man had already reached her, and took her somewhere else.

Kakashi was just standing there in front of them. Eyes shut. And moments later, there were other jounins coming to his side, guarding the gate away from them.

In that same second, Sasuke finally made his eyes open, and Naruto was stretching his aching body.

_**To be continued...**_

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AN: **Please do review!**


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